Understanding the differences between Binary vs ASCII formats for Macintosh

Understanding the differences between Binary vs ASCII formats for Macintosh

There are two different communication formats that are available when sending PostScript files from a Mac based system. They are ASCII and Binary. Generally ASCII is considered the standard data format for most PostScript Printers. Binary is a format that is generally used when smaller file sizes are required.

ASCII Data Format:

ASCII stands for "American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The ASCII protocol is made up of data that is encoded in ASCII values with minimal control codes added. The control codes that are added are interpreted by the printer. Parallel, Serial, and Ethernet medium all support ASCII communication and consider it to be the standard.

Binary Format:

Binary encoding more commonly known as BCP (Binary Communications Protocol), is made up of values in the range of 0-255. Binary encoding emphasizes compactness over efficiency of generation or interpretation. Most elements of the language, such as integers, real numbers, and operator names, are represented by fewer characters in binary encoding than in the ASCII encoding. Binary encoding is generally used in environments in which communication bandwidth or storage space is minimal. Communication media such as Appletalk and Ethertalk support the binary protocol.

Problems that can be encountered when sending Binary encoded data to a printer that only supports ASCII encoded data are as follows:

Jobs never leave the Desktop Printer
PostScript Errors
Partial pages of meaningless characters
Blank pages are printed continuously
Blank pages are printed with one line or one gibberish character

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